‘Us and them’ is another technique Tony Blair uses often, examples such as “we” and “we’re” are used frequently. Using these makes the listeners feel the speaker, in this case Tony Blair, is speaking on their behalf.
The next noticeable device that Blair uses is of Imperative sentences. “…now we must make the next choice: to invest in the…” using a command to tell the listeners to do something is an effective way of Delivering a speech. In this case however, the imperative sentence is almost rhetorical as the listeners have no choice but to do what Blair says, as it concerns Tax’s. This could also be classed as minor sentence as without the context it makes no sense.
Hyperbole adjectives also occurs in Blair’s speech, “dramatic”, the situation is not apparently dramatic, but the word is used to show a sharp decrease.
A tri-colon is always effective in a speech, but Tony Blair combines, Tri-Colon’s, Repetition and Rhythm. “…Education, education, education” or. “…Investment, investment, investment” Using rhythm stresses a point in the speech, this makes the listener listen more and repetition has the same effect. Tri-Colons are also used to stress three points, usually 3 main points, these tend to stick in a listeners mind.
“But we know there is much more to do” this is an example of a minor sentence. These are when the context is not known. Minor sentences are used quite frequently in speeches.
Parenthesis is another main feature of Tony Blair’s speech. “The 10-year transport plan, to be published shortly, will show…” This extra comment, informs the listeners a little bit more about that subject, however parenthesis is usually used for humour.
A great speech technique is to use “set ‘em up and knock ‘em down” This is where the speaker, (Tony Blair), lures the listeners into a false sense of security which the speaker then goes and destroys. “There is a lot done, but a lot more needs to be done…” Using this gets the listener to feel quite good about themselves but then making the listener feel guilty about not doing more.
Tony Blair uses many Rhetoric devices to get his points across and keep the listener interested. Without using a wide spread of Devices a speech may go dull and not keep the listener interested. As this speech was more an information-based speech rather than an argument speech Devices like Rhyme and Similes have not been used, but a lot of other techniques have and in my opinion been used to great effect.